Needle felting

When we were at the cottage earlier in the year we came across a felt and fiber shop near the center of the village.  So I picked up a couple kits of different colours of felt and some needles and Ladybug and I tried out needle felting.  My first attempts weren't bad.  

The white one is Ladybugs sheep that she did with little supervision or guidance, I think she did a great job. The left yellow one is a sun and the other yellow one is a chicken, use you imagination.  The pink on is a pig, really it is.

See it is pig...especially if you squint :)

This is my chick.  I didn't have any black or dark colours when I made this that I left the eyes off.  Eyes would make it look more chick like but I think it is cute.

Today we picked up some more supplies, including some new needles for Ladybug since she has broken both of the ones she had, so I picked up a 4 pack of various sized needles with a handle.  For myself, I picked up a multiple needle handle and a pack of 6 red (38 gauge) needles.  Ladybug has already gone through 3 of the 4 needles but I think Rosie might have been responsible for 2 of the broken ones. She is making a bear but has misplaced the bits for a bit.  They have probably hid themselves in the couch cushions and we will have a look for them after the kids go to bed.

I decided to make a coaster since my drinks were frosty and delicious and so they had condensation so in order to prevent my wood from reacting to the water.  I was going to start with a tea pot cover but decided that that was a little ambitious so I started a bit smaller.  The package on the left is my assortment of needles while the the wood and brass thing on top of the pink insulating foam is the multiple needles holder with the needles (doesn't it look dangerous for your fingers)  I like that you can add decorations really easily but to felt the coaster took quite a while.  I might try knitting one and then adding the decorations to it.

Va-Ca at the Cottage

We left for the cottage on Monday afternoon and we got visitors on Tuesday evening, all nice things especially since the weather has been a bit wet.  I have done a lot since we arrived.  I have read through a whole book in a day, made homemade cinnamon buns, and I stocked an eagle.  So far I have been 'having a time'.

Here is the eagle after he scratched his head, unfortunately the shot of him scratching his head was not properly focused :(

Mister Eagle is looking right at me.  I think he wants to eat the dogs who have now joined me on my eagle stocking expedition.  Isn't he pretty!

Cinnamon Buns
1 1/4 cup milk
1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp)  dry active yeast
1/2 cup sugar
6+ tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (1 cup = 4oz)
cinnamon, ground

*In a saucepan, warm milk and 2 tbsp of butter until luke warm.
*In a large bowl dissolve 1 tbsp sugar and 1 pkg of yeast in 1 cup warm water and let stand for 5+ minutes or until the yeast blooms.
*Stir milk mixture, 2 tbsp sugar, salt, and 3 1/2 cups (14oz) of flour into the yeast mixture and mix for 2+ minutes.  Then add 1 1/2 cups (6 oz) flour to make a stiff dough (adding a tbsp of flour at a time if more required), knead 7-9minutes
*cover in an oiled bowl and let rise at room temp (or in a cold oven with the light on) for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs.
*scrape dough onto a floured board. Divide in half and roll out each half into a 10x16 and spread on 2 tbsp of butter (a little more if it needs it,  I am trying melted butter next time)
*spread cinnamon over the buttered dough and then sprinkle with sugar.
*Roll from wide edge.  Pinch the ends closed.  Cut each half into 6 and place in either 2 - 9" round pan, or place both in 11x13 rectangle pan.
*let it rise 1- 1 1/2 hours or put it in the fridge overnight.
*Bake 350* for 30-35 minutes

I like weighing my flour, especially since I schlepped this puppy home from the UK last summer. 1 cup of flour is 4oz so 3 1/2 cups of flour is 14oz.  Isn't it pretty :)  I have been wanting a weigh scale ever since I used the one at my grand parents place in Wales. 

 Here the dough is made and I am letting it rise in the oven with just the light on.  It isn't as pretty as my last batch but still a nice dough.  

 After it has risen, it filled my biggest bowl very well.

 Half the dough rolled out sprinkled with cinnamon.

Then sprinkled with sugar

 Rolled up and pinched closed waiting to be cut and put into the pan.

 Here is half the recipe, cut and placed in the pan.  I have placed one pan in the fridge and the other in the freezer for the following bird.

 I didn't get a picture of the whole batch out of the oven since they smelled too good to wait so here is the lone remaining bun waiting to be eaten.

 Oh so lovely.

Karate

Crazy busy weekend.  I was Karate Summer camp for ShotoCanada.  Which is the Shotokan association in Canada.  2 1/2 days of classes.  I was like taking 8 karate classes in 2 1/2 days.  Lots of fun, I learned 4 new katas, and went over the kata I need for my next grading.

Wasn't an exciting food weekend, but still tasty. Today and yesterday I made a salad. It looked similar to this.  Today I had a pickled egg, picked beets, corn, goat cheese and some vinegar from the pickled eggs.  Yesterday also had miso dressing and artichoke hearts.

Dinner yesterday was a garden burger and some veggies.  Delicious but not exciting.  I am not sure what we will have for dinner tonight but I am sure we will have something :)

J made some Miso Dressing that was delicious, so I watched how he made it.

Miso Dressing (All measurements are approximate and will need to be adjusted to taste)

1/4 cup white miso paste

1/4 cup soy sauce

Large splash of sesame oil

2-3 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2-3 tbsp olive oil

sprinkle of garlic powder

sprinkle of powdered ginger

sprinkle of sesame seeds

It is a pretty basic method to make the dressing.  Add the ingredients (except seeds) and whisk up until smooth and then add the sesame seeds.  Voila, salad dressing.

Water Park

Ladybug spent most of the day at Dance Camp, which is going well.  We are still a little iffy on the eating but otherwise she is getting better and less whiny as the week progresses.

Rosie and I had breakfast out with J and Audrey.  She is driving back to the interior today and I didn't really have a chance to visit so we did a bit of chat over breaky.  Lovely

I decided to take the Bellyfit class again at the Y since yesterday's was so much fun and I didn't wake up with an uncomfortable back, so this time I tried putting Rosie in Playcare while I went to class.  This hasn't been a successful strategy in the past since she doesn't always do well when she isn't with people she knows.  Today was much different, she didn't want to leave.  Amazing!   Luckily they were closing so she didn't really have a choice.  I did a 1.6mile warm up on the elliptical machine so I feel like a I had a good exercise day (eating, not so much.)

After class, I had just enough time to rush home and take a shower.  R didn't like this plan so she fell asleep in the car.  I did the responsible thing and put up an umbrella over the window to shield her from the sun and then promptly left her in the car in the back parking pad to take my shower.  I was showered, dressed and back at the car in around 8 minutes.  I came back to her still fast asleep.  So off to pick up Ladybug, unfortunately the lady in the car next to us in the parking lot of the dance studio woke R up while I was getting L from class, because I was again the responsible parent and left R in the car (which I could see) to get L from class.  Don't judge, sleeping is more important.

We made a quick side trip to get a new summer karate gi, since mine is not summer weight and is a little yellow around the edges and I will be wearing it 3 days straight this weekend since it is Karate Summer camp :)

Them home for swimsuit and then off to the waterpark.  In which my kids did not get wet - at all.  Weird children.  They did have a lot of fun and spent a lot of energy running around and having fun.  R made a friend, it was so cute.  She would call for her friend and then they would go down the slide.  It is nice to see her developing interpersonal skills, but then again she is a bit more outgoing then L.

I actually had a great evening with the kids.   They were great playing together with only a few spats that were easy enough to redirect.  They were pretending to be cats and L was taking R up to put the baby cat to bed, at the same time as I was wanting them to take a bath and I was able to use they whole cat thingy so make it work.  L put the cat to bed while I filled the tub and then it would be time for the cats to have a bath.  I didn't want to spoil the fun by telling them that cats don't like baths, but I think they go the idea since there was much splashing to be had.  Hair and bodies got washed and they both smell like peaches right now since I got them new shampoo and leave in conditioner.  Delicious, the shampoo smelled so much like fresh ripe peaches, the conditioner not as much but still nice.

I am currently sitting on the deck in the dark with the deck heater on (only like the 2nd time we have used it in 4 years)  the decadence of summers and new patio furniture.

It's a pickle.

I had a bit of an urge today at lunch time. 

Pickled Veggies

So I made a salad with homegrown lettuce, quinoa salad, marinated artichokes, picked beets, pickled eggs, pepper goat cheese and some of the pickled egg vinegar.

 And for a snack, 1/2 a Sally Bun Cinnamon Bun.  Delicious.

Fin :)

Home Grown Goodness.

I have harvested the first lettuce from my garden for lunch today.

Here is my lettuce patch.  I have 6 types of lettuce which makes for a tasty salad.  I am generally fairly impatient so what I normally do for lettuce is scrape off the top layer of soil from the section and then sprinkle the seeds in the scraped off section then cover with either more soil or sea soil.  This usually leaves a very thick layer of lettuce as you can see.  The benefit to this is that you get to eat the baby lettuce as you thin :)  I have a few empty spaces to I think I will find some more lettuce seeds to plant, maybe some romaine which is a type I don't currently have.  I favorite is usually buttercrunch lettuce since it is so tender but still easy to grow.

It is getting quite thick which means that I now feel free to pick as much lettuce as I want.  I think this is just a leafy green lettuce.  This with J's miso dressing is totally delicious.

----

So I am still experimenting with Mojito's, which is a terrible thing :)

So I have determined that I am a wuss with alcohol so in a pint glass I have only been putting in 1 oz of rum and very little sugar.  This works really well with spiced rum since it is dark rum which has sugar already in it.  Plus, it gives it a lovely appealing colour.

I used the last of my Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum which is a pretty damn good rum, so it was a darn shame so I had to go out and get some more.  I also use Sailor Jerry's in my crepe batter, so delicious.  I prefer the spiced rum in the Mojito over the regular Bacardi white rum, but I did pick up a bottle of Bacardi white rum to get the free muddler.  I think my next summer bevvie adventure might be Pina Coladas.  

Meltdown Monday.

Yesterday I was worried that Ladybug wouldn't eat properly at dance camp.  Well, out of the big lunch I packed for her she ate only the soy butter and jelly sandwich and the smoothie and she arrived whiny.  I mean, really whiny and she started to get really upset when ever she didn't get what she wanted, which was why Rosie woke up as early as she did :(

She refused to eat the samosa and wouldn't even try it when offered, she didn't want the yogurt which is unheard of in the Land of Ladybug.  Any way, I like the samosa and J likes the samosa so I guess we are set for samosa for a while.

Veggie Samosa's (or Beef Samosa's if you add beef like I did)
Filling:
2 tbsp Oil
1 large Onion, finely diced
2 cloves Garlic, finely minced
1 tsp Ginger, finely minced
1-2tsp Coriander
1/2 tsp Cayenne powder
2 cups mashed Potato
1 cup Sweet Potato, small dice
1 cup finely chopped Carrot
1 cup frozen Peas
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped fine
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice
*to make the samosa's have beef in it, I added 1/2 lb of ground beef and voila beefy :p
Dough:
3 3/4 cups White Flour
1 tbsp Salt
3 oz melted Butter
1 1/2 cup Water

 Here I have separated the yams from the potatoes to make mashing the potatoes without the sweet potatoes easier.

 In  a bowl whisk flour and salt, add the butter and water to make a firm dough.  I had to add extra flour to make the dough firm enough.

 Isn't my ball of dough lovely :)

 In a sauce pan, saute onions until golden, add garlic and ginger and stir 1 minute and then add the spices.  This is when I added the beef, cook thoroughly.  Remove from heat and add all the other veggies.

 Take a chunk of the dough and roll it out thinly. Add a small amount of the filling, fold over the top and pinch closed.

This is approximately how it will look.

 Now the recipe that I originally used called for the samosa's to be fried but I don't like frying thing since the smell and vaporized oil gets everywhere, so I baked these 475 convection for about 20 minutes, just until they started going golden around the edges

To celebrate having finished making the samosa's and having people over I decided that Mojito would hit the spot.  Luckily, I had picked up some mint from my MIL's garden just for this purpose.

I learned more about Mojito's this time.
a) don't cut up the mint, if you do you'll have to filter the liquid through you teeth to keep the mint out of it.  Not, that I don't like the mint, I just rather not chew my drink.

b) I don't need much sugar if I used spiced rum.

c) I really like Mojito's

Note on the Samosa.  I think next time I will try a variation on the filling.  How about....peas, mint, feta and potato...That sounds good, very similar to a Baraq.

Prelude, in more then one way.

It has been a busy day, unlike all my other day, right :)  I didn't get a chance to really have time to write, but I want to give you a peek at what I will post about tomorrow.  Ladybug is going to her first all day camp and since this is the first time at camp, this is also my first time having to pack her full day lunches and snacks.  So here is the first lunch I have packed.

homemade veggie and beef samosa with plum sauce (from a jar)
blueberries
sandwich with soy butter and blackberry jam
yogurt
protein smoothie, which I am freezing to work as a freezer pack and hopefully it will thaw in time for lunch.
carrots and celery
water

I am hoping that:
A) that she will eat the food
B) I have enough to satisfy her, and
C) she does eat, so her blood sugar stays up.

I guess only time will tell.  Also, this is a good test run for how kindergarten will go in September.  Wow how time flies...and in January I will have 2 kids in some sort of school. That requires another Wow.

Of course, I forgot to make the smoothie until 11:30pm but hopefully that will be enough time to freeze.  I think it will be since the berries were frozen and it was quite thick and cold to begin with.

Recipes and pictures will be posted tomorrow when, theoretically, I will have more time.  We will have to see, since I have to pick up Ladybug during Rosie's nap time.  Maybe I can get her to sleep in the car.

So today started out on a sour note but ended soooo much better.  Ladybug hasn't been eating well and I think her blood sugars are fluctuating and making my sweet little bug into a crazy spaz monkey.  But that didn't stop us from getting stuff done (well mostly.)  We made our way to the Moss st. market to get some veggies for the BBQ.  I had a plan to make brushetta and quinoa salad, so I picked up a loaf of bread and some tomatoes.  Sorry no pictures of the bruschetta, I was too busy eating it since it is delicious.

My Bruschetta:
1 Baguette
1 clove garlic
olive oil
ripe tomatoes
red onion
cilantro
salt and pepper
white balsamic

de-seed the tomatoes and chop into a smallish dice.  In a bowl add diced tomato, diced purple onion and chopped cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and then drizzle with olive oil and white balsamic.

Slice the baguette into angled slices and drizzle with olive oil.  Place under the broiler until golden and then rub the newly crispy baguette with the raw garlic.

Serve and Eat:)

Quinoa Salad
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup rinsed quinoa
1/2 cucumber, de-seeded
1 red pepper
1 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup broccoli florets
2 stalks of celery
1 bunch of green onions
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 cup of random fresh herbs
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp lemon zest
salt and pepper

Add quinoa to stock, bring to the boil and then reduced to a simmer and simmer for 15min or until the quinoa comes out  mostly dry.

Here are all the green onions, and herbs.

Then add all the other veggies

Her is how to de-seed the cucumber.  Quarter the cucumber and then slice out the seeds.

I decided that wanted a mojito, so I made an attempt at a mojito. so I made muddled the mint with some sugar, added some lime juice, a large splash of spiced rum and topped it off with soda water.  Totally awesome.

Ladybug and J had a conversation at some point during the day and L was okay with not having any added sugar since that might be part of the problem with her meltdowns.  By the end of the day, the kids were mostly getting along.

Tomorrow's plan is to plan out Ladybug's snacks and lunches for the week since she will be in dance camp from 9am to 2pm.  A good test run for all day kindergarten in September.  I am thinking of making samosa that will hopefully make it through the whole week and I think I will find a container to freeze smoothies in for the a snack/freezer pack for L's lunch.  Wow, I am glad I have to figure this out now and not in September.

Happy Canada Day and Uncle Tony

So Friday markes the 144th birth of Canada as an self-governing dominion on Great Britain and Tony's 80th birthday. Tony is J's uncle on his dad's side, so my MIL, J, the 2 girls and I all took the Harbour Air to Vancouver rather then taking the approximately 4 hours each way to take the BC Ferries. Things started really well. My MIL came by the house early and we all went downtown and found free parking downtown, SCORE! Then waited for out plane. Yippee for free fruit, tea and coffee.

They were having Canada Day Celebrations in Vancouver and I got to see the Olympic torch lit for the first time.

Then off to the luncheon to visit with J's family. Here is Ladybug showing Saukok how to play here favorite game on my phone.

The menu was great, a choice between duck or bass with an amuse buche to start and a lobster and crab salad. Tuna sashimi and a soup of some sort (I wasn't really paying that close attention)

Then the proverbial shit hit the fan. Ladybug, having not eaten properly was demanding chocolate which Aunty Helen had given her at the beginning of the meal but we had said that she would have to keep until after lunch. She refused to eat anything and since I don't back down easily from these fights (with the hope that she will understand that there are certain things that you can't do and have a fit about. I won't back down ever if she is having a tantrum over something she wants. Ask nicely and I will consider it.) So we finally got her calmed down enough after what seemed like hours but was probably only 40 minutes, she finished enough bass to allow her to have the chocolate and she then total calmed down. ARGGGGGGHHHHH. Just what I needed to have in front of hubbies' family. Then I got her some fruit and she is all happy.

After the luncheon we walked about with Cousin Carmen for a bit to see Cousin Steven at his sausage cart.

We had some time to kill before our return flight so we found a lovely hill and the kids did some rolling.

After a gazillion pictures to get a family pic, this is the best one I got. Oh well, we will try again later.

And then home after a tiring day.